US car giant General Motors has had its Formula 1 entry for the 2026 season formally approved.
It will name the new team after its luxury Cadillac brand.
The decision to approve GM’s bid comes just over two months after the company reached an agreement in principle with F1 to enter the sport next year.
F1 had previously rejected a bid from the US team Andretti, which was linked to Cadillac.
But the greater commitment of GM in a new proposal put forward later in the year has convinced F1 to admit Cadillac.
A joint statement from F1 and motorsport’s governing body the FIA said Cadillac’s bid had been approved “following the completion of their respective sporting, technical and commercial assessments”.
The entry will be run by the US organisation TWG in a revisioning of the initial bid.
The new team, which has a UK base at Silverstone, will be a joint effort between GM and TWG, with Dan Towriss, owner of US team Andretti Global, and TWG’s Mark Walter as the other key investors.
Former Indycar and F1 driver Michael Andretti is no longer involved with the team he founded. His father Mario, the 1978 world champion, will be involved in an advisory capacity.
Last year, TWG named Briton Graeme Lowdon, a senior figure at the Manor team that raced in F1 from 2010-16, as team principal.
F1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali said: “As we said in November, the commitment by General Motors to bring a Cadillac team to F1 was an important and positive demonstration of the evolution of our sport.
“I want to thank GM and TWG for their constructive engagement over many months and look forward to welcoming the team on the grid from 2026 for what will be another exciting year for Formula 1.”
F1 was swayed by key factors that it saw as differentiators over the initial Andretti bid.
These were that there was a commitment to a full works team over the coming years, an agreement for an engine supply with Ferrari rather than relying on F1’s rules to secure a compulsory engine, and the commitment of GM to build its own engine in the future.
An investigation into F1’s original decision to reject Andretti’s entry by the US department of justice also played a part.
F1’s governing body the FIA had approved the Andretti entry before F1’s initial rejection.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem described the decision as “a transformative moment”.
Towriss said: “For the past years, we have worked hand-in-hand with GM to lay a robust foundation for an extraordinary F1 entry.
“Now, with 2026 in our sights after today’s final approval from the FIA and F1, we’re accelerating our efforts – expanding our facilities, refining cutting-edge technologies and continuing to assemble top-tier talent.”
GM was attracted into F1 by the new engine regulations that are being introduced next year along with new chassis rules.
These will increase the proportion of power produced by the hybrid part of the engine to about 50% from the current 20% and mandate the use of fully sustainable fuels.
The new rules were instrumental in attracting GM’s US rival Ford and Germany’s Audi, and persuading Honda to stay involved after initially deciding to quit F1.
Ford is starting a partnership with Red Bull, which is producing its own engine from 2026, while Audi has bought the Sauber team and will rebrand it from next year. Honda is switching from Red Bull to become Aston Martin’s factory partner next season.
Renault, which owns the Alpine team, has decided that continuing to produce its own engine for F1 is not cost-effective and has ended its long-running programme. Alpine will buy Mercedes engines instead from next year.
